


Rest, Ye Weary Wanderer

by Nidvaller



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Background shenans because extra fluff, Bookclub Things (tm), F/M, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Fluff, M/M, Multi, No Beta We Thrive on ADHD, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal Spoilers, Polyamory, Starlight Celebration (Final Fantasy XIV), The boys are all bi/pan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:03:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28448127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nidvaller/pseuds/Nidvaller
Summary: A Bookclub Starlight Exchange fic.For Bex.The Warrior of Light is home in Ishgard for the holidays on enforced shore leave/vacation and spends the time with those she loves in the Fortemps manor. Contains references and spoilers to MSQ up to 5.3 without giving too much away. Read at your own risk, sproutlings.
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Estinien Wyrmblood, Aymeric de Borel/Warrior of Light, Haurchefant Greystone/Warrior of Light, Warrior of Light/Estinien Wyrmblood
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19
Collections: Bookclub Winter Fic Exchange 2020





	Rest, Ye Weary Wanderer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Finksalion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finksalion/gifts).



Twas the night before Starlight, and all was a stir in the Fortemps manor. It was rare that holiday festivities of any sort occurred in the manor since the Lady of the house had passed on, and even then they were hushed dinners with family members and the servants. That is, well, until a certain adventurer started to steal the hearts of all the members there. Said adventurer also started to spread that same thievery among the common folk and elite of Ishgard alike, that even well into the restoration of the nation long ravaged by war, this very same adventurer helped bring the rubble that was left behind to the side and built new homes. The beloved hero of the Dragonsong War has, in many ways, enacted the very chain of events that caused the wounds to heal, and years later, even after the jump to the Far East, the liberation of Ala Mhigo, and a stint at the First that caused a lot of chaos, one would think that she would be the very first to declare she needed a well-deserved break. Alas…

She had to be dragged kicking and screaming into a holiday dinner and overnight stay with loved ones. However, she was not the only one who had to be dragged, for the Lord Commander Aymeric de Borel was drug from his desk and away from any paperwork with nary a protest, and the former Azure Dragoon was plucked from whatever hiding place he hoveled in this time by lalafellin fiends. All were deprived of their usual regiments of armor, weapons, and excuses, and given instead the task of thinking of thoughtful gifts for all. Or so you would think.

“A hairbrush, Aymeric? Truly, you forget that I barely have care for such things,” Estinien sighed in disdain at the rather lavish gift his friend  and sometimes lover offered. He begrudgingly acknowledged as he twirled the item in his hands the intricate and sturdy carving of the bark, capable of withstanding even the most severe of falls and stepping on from careless nights and wearisome travels, but the thing was also bedecked with small jewels that would otherwise be lost in his pack, or worse, plucked and pawned for food and lodging.

“I thought you would appreciate the emergency funds and something that would remind you of home while you were away,” the dark-haired elezen said with a pout. “You did mention you loved the sheep and aldgoats your family used to raise.”

The surly and very tired man before him snorted in disbelief as his shoulders rolled in amusement. “I never said that it was unappreciated, old friend. I just thought it would be a shame if I lost it, or it got tarnished on my travels.”

“Well, best not to do that, you silly boy,” a feminine lilt intoned as the Warrior of Light grinned tauntingly before shoving packages of different sizes and colors onto their chests with a little bit more strength than either was expecting, causing them to wheeze at the strikes to their plexuses. Fury’s Mighty Bosom, since  _ when _ did their beloved warrior get this strong? Estinien mused that there was something to it connected to the bleached tips of her hair as she grinned wide, which only concealed a great sorrow and knowledge in her eyes. He knew better than to prod just yet and instead opened the rather large and long package. Inside, there were many items that he knew not the materials of their make, but they varied in their uses. Some were traveling clothes for different sorts of climates with fashionable flares to them, some were camping supplies that were sturdier and offered much more comfort than his usual affair, and… Was that a necklace? He pulled it up and inspected it, thumbing over the elaborate design of dragons in flight around a heart engraved with arcane symbols and filled with some sort of strange crystal.

“This has to do with your latest little ‘adventure,’ doesn’t it?” he inquired with a raised brow.

She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll tell the tale after we all eat supper.”

He hummed and shrugged as he gingerly put it on, and Aymeric took it as his cue to open his, gasping at the craftsmanship of his own gifts. The first he noticed was the very delicately painted tea set of porcelain and gold, with the same kind of motif that Estinien’s necklace had. “Goodness, these all seem to cost a fortune, my dear. How did you come to afford all this?”

The savior of Ishgard shrugged and kissed his cheek. “Same way I do many things. Make things here, kill a few monsters there, maybe lick a pretty rock to make sure it won’t kill you…”

“I beg your pardon?” Aymeric looked up with a confused expression, perplexed at what he just heard, causing her to giggle. “Oh don’t worry about it. Keep going!”

He nodded, dumb-founded and conflicted, and pulled out more items. There were some comfortable and fashionable clothes that are meant to be more casual than his usual attire, but a closer inspection showed that they were tougher than most armor he came across, and afforded him protection from any would-be assassinations. Practical, if a little morbid. He also found another necklace similar to Estinien’s, with his jeweled engravings filled with a much brighter blue, while the stone in Estinien’s was one that shifted between an indigo-violet to a deep burgundy. The last gift was a book that was filled with histories long forgotten and seemed to detail a time before the founding of Ishgard, when man and dragon lived in harmony. “ _ A Historie of Ascalon?”  _ he whistled low. “This was not an easy find, I take it.”

Again, she shook her head. “I had to haggle and fight a Sharlyan scholar in a duel, get his mother to tell me where it is, and even then I had to crawl through every single library filled to the brim of voidsent to find the latest version on this side of the globe.”

He laughed and kissed her cheek, sooty lashes tickling her temple. “Appreciated nonetheless.” The smile and blushed he earned from his gesture of gratitude told him all he needed to hear as Haurchefant came into the room with his famous hot chocolate in all sorts of colorful, large mugs of porcelain, and it seemed that they were topped off with marshmallows and whipped cream.

“I see you started without me,” he teased as he handed them each a mug and gave them tight hugs. While the wound to his torso had healed for a good while, they returned the gesture gingerly so as to not aggravate his back. “Oh, come now. I’m not so delicate that I would shatter like glass from a tight embrace, you know!”

“We know, Haurchefant. We know. It’s just…” the Warrior shuddered at what could have been, as the miserly end would have been gruesome and would haunt them all forever. Still, with a surly pout, he shoved his own gift at her as to stop her from finishing that sentence. “None of that, or you will be dragged into my chambers and be proven as how very much not  _ dead _ I am. Again.”

She squeaked as both the package and his words threw her off-kilter as Estinien was sent into an ugly chortle and Aymeric a flustered cough. “Perhaps not in front of your father and brothers, love,” said the Lord Commander quietly as Haurchefant waggled his eyebrows at him.

“Oh, please. They’re not in earshot and my father is currently trying to soothe my brothers’ bickering. Besides… Things are always a little more interesting when a certain someone isn’t as stoic as rumors tend to make others believe.”

“Alright, alright, I’m opening it!” she crowed in flustered bemusement as she tore through wrapping and ribbon. A gasp left her lips before she began to process what was offered before her. “Is this..?”

“Mmmm, perhaps,” Haurchefant teased as he kissed her crown. The gift inside was a locket with the Fortemps crest embedded, and upon opening it, there was a small painting of the four of them on one side, and on the other, a small, engraved message that glittered from the melted metal that glimmered brighter than most jewels.  _ Wherever you walk, remember us, for your smile is our greatest treasure. _ “Haurche…”

“Say no more. I know with you traveling so long and often, and with how much distance and work separates us through time and space, I figured a smaller, more practical gift that kept us close to you would be best.”

Aymeric and Estinien were both smiling knowingly as they passed their own gifts to her. Aymeric’s gift was an earring that matched his, except embellished with symbols of Halone and Azeyma in gold. The latter elezen gave a bracelet of two dragons in a mating dance, contrasted in white and black metal, both as a reminder of their journey and struggles together, and as a physical promise to stand by each other both on the battlefield and out as equals. With each gift, tears of a maelstrom of emotions welled, and she pulled all of them into a massive and tangled embrace. “I love all of you. Thank you.  _ Thank you,”  _ she whispered, the latter in a strange, alien language that while the three of them did not know on a surface level, felt deeply and  _ knew _ at the core of their souls, perplexing them further.

“Alright, you have  _ got _ to tell us the latest stint,” Estinien remarked, blinking at how perplexing the utterance was.

The warrior blinked and chuckled awkwardly. “Okay, okay. This is going to be a long one, and I think you should get nice and comfortable first.”

They all sat comfortably for a while as the hearth in the manor crackled on as she started her tale of the ordeals on the First, and all that she learned and discovered about herself and more, as a lone figure watched on from a window that was unlit, snapping his fingers to give way to soft snowfall that never made them feel cold, and fading off with a smile and a nonchalant wave, happy to watch from afar as his friend continued life and embraced the happiness she so deserved.

By the end of the night, they were tangled in a mess of limbs and blankets around the fire, comfortable in each other’s embrace as the promise of a new tomorrow continued on.

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this fic is like eating mac and cheese on a low spoon, cold day. I hope it warms you up and leaves you feeling comforted, even a little. I know I haven't been writing much, as both college and home life has left me drained and feeling unwell mentally, and I do hope to write more of my longfic along with other ideas in the coming year. Thank you for your patience with me at this time, and I wish you a merry new year to you all.
> 
> If you want a community for fanfic full of lovely people of all sorts of creativity and backgrounds, join the Bookclub here: https://discord.gg/enabling-debauched-xivfic
> 
> If you want to keep up to date with both myself the person and my endeavors (I mainly do art), the best to find me is on my Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Nidvaller
> 
> Stay safe!


End file.
